Alexis Sanchez to sign for Arsenal?

Yes it’s a only a question at the moment but what would Sanchez bring to the party?

To give him his full name, Alexis Alejandro Sánchez Sanchez , so good they named him twice, 25 year old Chilean born striker who currently plays for Barcelona.

To start with he is a goal scorer and a provider of assists, his World Cup stats are played 4 scored 2 and 1 assist. His record in La liga last season was a .72 of a goal every game, when assists are added it becomes 1.09 goals or assists every game. Those figures put him fourth in La Liga behind Ronaldo, Messi and Bale.

He can play left, right or centre and can play deeper if needed. He has pace both on and off the ball and is expert at picking out his team-mates with clever passes. He has always been noted for his work rate and has the acceleration and outright pace to get onto the excellent balls played in by Mesut Ozil.

For a player to score 21 goals in a season playing for a team that fields a player of the calibre of Lionel Messi takes some doing. Could Arsenal use him? A resounding yes.

If we do get him, he’ll be in direct competition for a starting place with the likes of Cazorla, Oxlade- Chamberlain and Wilshire. Given the injury problems of the latter two that may not be a bad thing. In addition, there has been talk from Cazorla’s camp that he would welcome a move back to Spain.

What do AAers think? Will he fit in? Will he put a few noses out of joint? Will he help us win trophies?

Can Arsenal sign him? At the moment it seems we are the favourites, Sanchez wants to come to Arsenal, the clubs have agreed a fee of around £32/35 million and his salary shouldn’t be a problem, but Juventus are sniffing around so it’s not yet a done deal.

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245 Responses to Alexis Sanchez to sign for Arsenal?

I am in two minds about Sanchez: from a personal point of view, I think he will make a great addition to Arsenal. However from his point of view, I think it will hurt him as the press in the UK will hammer him like they hammered Ozil and anything else to do with Arsenal. I hope he is made of strong stuff so that he will be able to stand up to the abuse that he will undoubtedly suffer from the media and some of our fans.

Brilliant stuff, Norfolk. :) Sanchez will be a brilliant signing. No questions. He will be brilliant in Arsenal. My honest opinion is that there is currently a certain lack of quality which means Ozil’s brilliance is a bit misplaced. This gap will be plugged by Sanchez.

With offers from Liverpool, Juventus, AC Milan and others, the Barcelona forward had plenty of options, but after requesting a sit down with the player, the Arsenal manager worked his charms and convinced Sanchez that London, and the Emirates, would be the best place for him.

Sport say that Wenger gave the player the ‘love’ he needed, and assured him that he’d been following his progress since he was a young player, keeping tabs on him as he moved from South America to Udinese in Italy, and then on to Barcelona.

Having had a couple of days to reflect on the meeting, Sanchez told his agent, Fernando Felicevich, that his mind was made up and he wanted to join Arsenal. Having already laid some of the groundwork with Barcelona, Dick Law then put the rest of the deal in place knowing the player’s intentions and full agreement between the two clubs was made.

Yet it appears the manager’s personal touch is what swung things Arsenal’s way. It’s not the first time it’s happened either.

Mesut Ozil spoke about how a meeting with Wenger was what convinced him to join Arsenal last summer, and when Manchester United got Gary Neville to show a 17 year old Aaron Ramsey around their training ground, the Arsenal manager trumped that by flying the Welsh youngster and his family to Switzerland to personally convince him to join the club.

The final line of the Sport article says: The seductiveness of Frenchman is inexhaustible.

I’m liking it. Brings the power and pace we talked about needing to add. Oozes quality. With him in the side i expect we’ll be playing a bit differently. It’ll be interesting to see what that looks like.

Sanchez to Arsenal will be a massive signing for us. Of all the top players and big transfers we have been linked with I think he is the best of all of them. That list includes Di-Maria, Draxler, Reus and Griezman. I have to still say at this moment that, as long as it goes ahead???, not only are we bringing in a truly world class performer, that IMO is the missing bit of the jig-saw puzzle, but I actually feel he is going to get even better. I think he has a RonaldoMessiesque level of potential.

As others have said I think he will bring the best out of Ozil as well. I would still add Remy to the squad as well though. For me Sanogo needs to be a loan player for maybe a couple of seasons and we need to enter the season with Sanchez, Remy and Giroud as our front options. The fact that the first 2 can actually play inside forward and so can also play with Giroud at times gives us so many more options.

I agree with the over-loading in ACM so would not be too upset if Santi did leave as much as I do love the guy. We have plenty of CAM options with Ozil, Ramsey, Wilshere, the Ox, Rosicky before we even look at any from the youth ranks. I actually feel that one of the ACM players not only could be but likely should be sacrificed to pave the way for not only Sanchez who is more naturally adapted to wide attacking play but also for a world class DM. These 2 types of players plus the addition of Remy would give us both the depth and also the balance we need to challenge for the title.

If the new German fitness chap can also reduce our injury problems I think we will be flying this year. I believe that lack of balance and over-loading of too many similar midfielders plus the injury problems are why we fell away eventually last season. I trust AW that he will also address the GK and defence positions as well and Debuchy looks a good initial addition in that area. If we get these players we are looking at we should be serious title challengers this season.

Arnie, I’m surprised to see the words Diaby and fit in the same sentence. :D We could really do with either him fully fit or a replacement such as Lars Bender, on balance I think I’d go for the replacement.

GoonerB, Wenger has said in the past that the maximum number of new players that can be assimilated at one go is three, now that could just have been an attempt to camouflage the fact that he didn’t have the money to get the top quality players he wanted, but looking at the Spuds and Newcastle last season there does seem to be something in what he said.

Even so I reckon we still need a ‘keeper, full back (Debuchy) a centre-back back-up and a DM.

If we get Sanchez, Giroud, Walcott and Podolski should suffice up front. Remy could only come in if Sanogo goes out on loan, but would he be happy to be third or fourth choice striker?

My first instinct when the rumours first surfaced was to say, not exactly what we need because I was unconvinced he can play through the middle. However, I always felt there was a lack of really quality forwards available. Which is why I was even considering Balotelli as an option :) (as if my consideration matters)

On Sanchez, I thought he’s too similar to the Ox. I still stick by that. Although he’s better than him in his dribbling and his finishing. But I realise now that that is no bad thing. His statistics indicate that he finishes like Podolski. So a Podolski with the speed of Walcott and the trickery of the Ox. Well.. YES again and again, especially now that we saw him play in the centre for Chile.

A lot of people seem willing to let Cazorla go. Whether it’s to do with the reported statements about Atletico, or it is to do with his less than spectacular season, I don’t know. But Cazorla is a genius. He has simply been overplayed the past two seasons. By club and country. He’ll come back better than before this year. And with increased playing time of Theo & Ox and the inclusion of Sanchez, we don’t have to worry about a lack of pace.

We also have Gnabry and maybe Campbell. If we add Remy – which I would like, I suppose one of them goes out on loan. My preference will be Gnabry on loan since I don’t want us to lose Campbell. I think he could be a decent forward for us, though probably not ‘World Class’. But I have a feeling we’ll see Campbell sold or loaned out.

Giroud and Sanogo should both stay. If Giroud goes down, Sanogo is the only one who can offer us that physical presence up front.

Similarly, if Ozil gets injured, Cazorla is the ideal replacement. I don’t think Ox/Wilshere are ready to play that role consistently as well. So keep Cazorla, even if he’s not happy to be on the bench as often. In any case, he and Poldi, along with the likes of Flamini, Rosicky, and maybe Arteta, are basically towards the end of their careers with us. Let’s get the most out of them while we can.

I think the story was nonsense. Cazorla was linked with Atletico by the paper. We don’t know what question he was asked but no player would publicly deny the possibility of a move in concrete terms. He was vague that’s all. From memory, I think he just mentioned finishing his career in Spain. Not that he was looking to move.

And considering it’s Santi, there might also have been a problem with the language. And if the interview was conducted in Spanish, there can equally be a problem in translation.

Even Ramsey said he wouldn’t (eventually) turn down the chance to play for Barcelona or Real Madrid. Maybe we should sell him too.

I predicted Mark Cavendish would win the first stage of the Tour de France and that Chris Froome would win the race out-right…Mark crashed out in the last two hundred metres of the first satge and Chris has just abandoned the race after crashing once yesterday and twice today.

So I’m predicting that Spuds will win the treble this coming season. :D Or is that tempting fate too far?

He would be a great addition and he will actually bring that much needed pace and skills on the wing along with the touch of strikers’ killing instinct. It is also, according to me, a clear sign that Wenger wants to build his team around….Ozil as a play maker in a 4-2-1-3 set-up.

If everyone is fit, our team from midfield onwards (and if we get a true defensive mid as a recruit):

He will be massive, he can just be that 20 plus goal scorer we need along with Giroud and Theo and with a midfield of Ramsey, Ozil and Cazorla, holy cow we can dare to dream the league again. He is a fantastic player, an absolute coup if we have indeed got him.
I want the official status update on Arsenal.com to confirm it and then lets rejoice for we have a world class talent with us.

Debuchy and Remy will complete the trilogy but most importantly we need a DM and a GK to complete the team. Bender/Khedira or even Schneiderlin will suit fine for the DM role, GK???? how about a cheeky bid for Cech or Casillas??? . Maybe not at their best but quality is proven.

Evening all, Nice post Norfolk, you say he play’e central or to the left to the right and on the wings, i can only surmise that Wenger play’s him at the back in that case, as he normally waits a season to see if a new player can play all the positions, he may even play cup games in goal.

Nice to read a post that has that much enthusiasm, New signings before the transfer deadline what the hell is happening at Arsenal, and talk of another bugger tomorrow, well i don’t know :)

Over the years that is the Emirates years we seem to have had very long pockets with short arms, but now as some of our debts are being paid off we are starting to emerge as a top football club again,

Now i know its early doors and nothing written down on paper yet but the future is starting to look very exciting, I find it very surprising when Values are around the 30 to 40 million and we are in there with a bid, am i awake or am i dreaming, my ears are not believing what they hear, and i need to see players in shirts before i wake up.

Changing tack, there are other events forthcoming down in the jungles somewhere. :razz:

What is your take, chums? I am for the Argies. Falklands or not, they have shown some quality. Holland deserved to lose to CRC, they are lucky to progress. And since Raddy is not around. I cannot bear to see the grin on R$P’s face.

The news is that he got too used to the curries up north, and grabbed the first piece of shit he could get his hands on in Brazil. Result: very painful, not only for him but everyone else in teh dressing room, including the diver. Result: he is banished to the toilet.

Cheers, NG.
Sanchez brings cocaine, hookers, the finest Jamaican rum and a touch of MDMA to the party.
I’ll believe it when I see him wearing an Arsenal Puma top and with Arsene working him from behind like Lord Charles

I thought that Brazil v Germany was going to be boring, with both teams scared of conceding. I also thought that tonight’s game was going to be open, fast and furious. There you are, I should take up knitting

Quick, great feet, eye for goal….what’s not to like. As LB says why are Barca wanting to sell him? The only fear would be the winter, but judging by Chile’s performance in the World Cup I’d say they are made of sterner stuff.

Also I don’t think you have to worry about pics on Arse.com because surely that Puma kit they’re wearing is training kit.

As long as home kit is red with white sleeves how wrong can they get it?

The only problem with spending big cash is we will now be called two faced or hypocritical by those who have been moaning about not spending for the last ten years, the fact that we are now doing with self generated funds will be beyond the wit of most of the pundits.

Funny thing about those Leftie Hippy Sorts is you know they like the underdog and equal rights for woman and poofs and shit, but underneath their ponytails and robes, they like nothing more than splashing obscene amounts of cash on world megastars

Morning all,
Holland and the Argies were abysmal bored for most of the game and asleep the rest, If this is the best in the world , England don’t have to get much better before they kick their arses.

Mascarano was superb he played exactly as he should, he had everything covered and he also kept the diver under wraps. Argentina and Holland found it very difficult to score goals, they cancelled one another out and through the type of defending on show, made for a long drawn out night.

Holland had the same problem in their last game, where scoring a goal was beyond them, two games that went to penalties. and only skulduggery by their unsporting reserve keeper was the difference,

Last nights debackle was similar, struggled to score but made the mistake of replacing Van Persie with another non scoring forward, probably been better if they had played with 2 goalkeepers.

Holland’s goalkeeper, it was said last night by a commentator that he had never saved a penalty before, and after seeing his efforts i would assume it could be some time before he does.

Its nice to be able to say that the best team won, but i am afraid that i cannot say that as this game bored the pants off me, all i can hope for is a better game in the final that is if i can stay awake long enough.

Yes another result i got wrong, that seems to be the pattern of play so maybe i shall keep my mouth shut for the final.

Germany look to be the outright favourites, at least they know how to score goals but we all know about finals anything can happen.

is anybody out there not happy about the Dutch losing? The bastards played for penalties. The ref treated Robben with due disrespect and let him wriggle on the ground. The master technician with flat face let the worst player take the first penalty . All good. It can only get better if Brazil redeem themselves

Right, the Sanchez deal is delayed because of the Suarez move. Will Rogers sell the cannibal before he has a replacement? Liverpool wanted Sanchez, who chose us. I can see this situation to get rather messy yet. Remember Spuds playing silly buggers last year? I won’t be surprised if Pool are equally stupid

Your up early Eddie, couldn’t you sleep or are you up to gloat :) I see you have your Eddie face on today but will it change for the final, i’ll have to wait and see.

You obviously don’t like Holland and i guess you like Robben even less i guess you see Van the man in the same light, so in all honesty, you are probably glad we got rid of him, I liked RVP i thought he had had a tough few years with us, but once he got his act together he did the business for us, yes he upped and left and went to one of our biggest rivals where he scored quite a few goals, but he was getting on and Arsenal had made no moves to improve our team, we got a good price for him and he did us proud for his last couple of seasons.

I have no problems when players up and leave especially if they have done their best for us. Bendtner i will be glad to see the back of him but even he had his moments.

I said on a blog last year, that Sanogo would be a 20 million pound striker in 2 years, but i have my doubts now, as he has probably had all his chances, and i cannot see him get too many more, i think i should give this prediction thing a miss in future.

Stevie – “I have no problems when players up and leave especially if they have done their best for us”. Ditto my friend. Van persie has done his best for himself. He sat on the physio table for 7 seasons and only managed 1 full season when he wanted to move. This was to attract the buyers, not for us. I loved him, but now he is the worst enemy. I would welcome an opportunity to inflict a real injury on him

Great post Norfolk. Sorry for delay. Been keeping away from site while World Cup is main topic. Roll on Sunday and a chance to talk about the Greatest Football Club in the World. Still prefer Sneiderlin or Khedira to Bender and would like a few hints from AW re our new centre back. Sure a GK will become available and prefer one to compete with Scz. Disappointed that Aurier deal seems to have evaporated but imagine there are other perceived problems…wouldnt want another another batty Eboue.

I can’t stand baldies with beards either…. but I have no choice! A beard gives me a chance to do the hair thing on my face otherwise I’d have nothing to do! I like my gravatar… somehow it just seems more honest :-)

Yup, a very odd time GN5. As you imply, perhaps it’s to allow certain medicals and contracts to be completed. And perhaps it’s also to allow Le Prof to join by videolink from Brazil at a sensible hour…..

Certainly hope this Sanchez and Debuchy thing can be completed soon, I want to move onto other bits of speculation and gossip.

Come on Germany now dont make this a sad ending to a great world cup. You need to beat that average team and in fact pulverize them. If not 7-1 maybe a 3-1 scoreline will be fine with Mesut player of the game in the biggest game of the tournament.

When will Sanchez be announced, starting to worry me now for this has happened so often that we are on the verge and then we see that player go somewhere else. Please not him, please.

White Eddie Bear, Only ten days to the first match, Arsenal vs Borehamwood, 3pm Sat. 19th July. Tickets Seats £22, standing £18. Why wait for the Community Shield? I’m sure all the first team squad will be there, or at least there’ll be a picture of them in the programme. :D

By the end it was hard to watch Germany’s 7-1 demolition of Brazil. Poor Andre Schürrle, the substitute who came in at striker for Germany in the second half, couldn’t quite celebrate his two goals the way Thomas Müller had when he scored the first goal in the 11th minute. A friend watching at a bar in Berlin reported that when Oscar finally scored for Brazil in the 90th minute, all the Germans in the bar offered an empathy cheer.

Brazil certainly underperformed on Tuesday and throughout the World Cup. Its wins have all been lucky, barely, or both. But Brazil didn’t just fall apart against Germany (although it certainly did fall apart). Germany beat them with the precise and inspiring soccer it’s played all month in Brazil. This is not an accident, a golden blessing of a generation of talented fussballers. It follows a 14-year plan to find all the kids among 80 million Germans who can really play soccer, train them young, and get them attached to a professional team.

All countries do this, kind of. Belgium does it really well. After tonight’s game you could argue that Germany does it best.

In the 2000 European Championship, Germany didn’t make it past the group stage. Imagine the anger and soul-searching in New York if the Yankees finished last in the American League East. So the Deutscher Fussball Bund, the organization responsible for Germany’s national team, came up with a plan. Traditionally in Europe, club teams had been responsible for their own talent development. Some, like Barcelona in Spain and Ajax in the Netherlands, have become known for their youth academies. But the DFB decided that talent was too precious to leave unfound, and so in 2002 launched a national program to find all of it.

The Guardian wrote a great piece on the German program last year, or you can read the DFB’s own chest-thumping self-assessment from 2011. Germany’s standardized national program starts teaching the same skills to 6-year-olds all over the country. It’s run in every town by coaches who have to get a license from the DFB. Then by age 8, as training continues, scouts are watching for the kids good enough for the club programs.

This spring I watched my German godson, Paul, play a soccer game with his youth team. He’s 8 years old. German kids at that age don’t play herd ball. They play their roles, make clean passes, and pick their shots. None of this is left to chance. His youth club, TV Rodenkirchen, is part of the national program. And standing on the sidelines—for a league game between 8-year-olds—were professional scouts.

Every professional club team in the first and second division of Germany’s Bundesliga now has to fund its own soccer high school. Between 2002 and 2010, the amount that professional club teams spent on youth development almost doubled, to about 85 million euros a year. We can already see what this spending has helped create. Last year’s Guardian article listed them:

We love the World Cup, in part, because it offers us a clear contest between nations with winners and losers. Except with an actual war, this clarity is hard to come by in international relations. Some nations get lucky. Did Argentina deserve its Lionel Messi or Portugal its Cristiano Ronaldo? But a national soccer team is a kind of mobilization, the end of a long plan, sustained over decades, with many moving parts, to find and train talent.

Germany was not blessed with Leo or Ronaldo. But sustaining a complex national plan over years, and committing to it as both a metaphorical and literal investment? Perhaps we should not be surprised that Germany has done this very, very well.

Superb, fantastic, just loving it. I was having visions of the Mata situation repeating itself, with some shitbags stealing a great signing from under our noses at the last minute. But the club have done it, well done to Wenger, Laws, Gazidis and anyone else involved. Still much to do this summer, but this is a wonderful start to our business.

Brilliant signing. Well done to Arsene, Gazidkis and Law. This really announces Arsenal as serious big time players now and I expect other top players will be casting admiring glances our way. Lets get the Debuchy thing done and add Khedira and Remy (plus GK and CD) to have a EPL and ECL challenging squad.

You should check out the women’s footy, it’s proper good stuff. After years of Arsenal having it easy, the league is competitive this year, any of the eight in the super league could win. The technical levels are way higher than they were once upon a time. It’s great stuff.

Kit launch very clever marketing time. Who are most likely to buy kits? Those in areas without access to big football clubs so Africa/Far East/Oz etc will see kit launched before going to work and those in the US as they come home from work, and local Arsenal fans will watch because we are local Arsenal fans.

I see Evonne/Eddie/White Bear has been at the AFC youtube page – it can only have been her that posted the comment: POLANDPOLANDPOLANDPOLANDPOLAND­POLANDPOLANDPOLANDPOLANDPOLAND­POLANDPOLANDPOLANDPOLANDPOLAND­POLANDPOLANDPOLANDPOLANDPOLAND­POLANDPOLANDPOLANDPOLANDPOLAND­POLANDPOLANDPOLANDPOLANDPOLAND­POLANDPOLANDPOLAND﻿:)

I’m guessing there’s a net outlay (Suarez Sanchez), our man is two years younger, and bite or not, it’s impossible to imagine Suarez getting a grip on his inner loon enough to avoid lengthy suspensions every season.

Great business by the club. Now we need to get the rest of the squad sorted.

Debuchy seems to be almost done, a sub GK (Ospina or Navas), a young CB (Manolas or Ginter would be nice), and a proper CM (Khedira) and I’d be happy. If we were to snap Remy up aswell then great, but not sure where that would leave Campbell and Sanogo so can’t see it happening.

Does anyone see any of the players leaving? I think at least 1 or 2 will go. Maybe Vermaelen and Arteta.

Gosh, I woke up at 4.30 thinking about Sanchez :oops::oops: in a footballing way you understand, then I looked at the new shirts again and thought of Ollie relishing the idea of being squeezed into one. When’s the Borehamwood Game???

Morning Gooners,
I go for a days fishing in the rain, come home and find that Arsenal FC have started exorbitant spending, Also changing our football strip, Well well well, turn your back for a second and everything has changed. Never caught a thing, some things never change.May have to go tomorrow as well, at this rate we may have built another stadium by the time i catch my fish.